Words
by Proudtobepack
Summary: A collection of drabbles. Will have any number of pairings: RuNo, Clack, AkuRoku, RiSo, Dexion, Seiner, ect. Any rating as well. I'll up it if I need to later.
1. Spaghetti

_**Spaghetti**_

**_Disclaimer: Characters (c) Respected Owners_**

~o~

It wasn't the oddest of missions to be sent on, it wasn't unusual, to scout out a new world.

Rather routine actually.

It's just it was the first time to do this sort of thing for the pair. Neither had been sent on a mission such as this, so they weren't quite sure what to expect.

Being prepared to fight heartless if the need raised? Yep. Expecting the mission to drag on and on like patrols did? Yep. Being turned into canines? Not so much.

The smaller of the two, Roxas, was certainly not happy. Of all the massive amounts of dog breeds he had to be the fluffiest of them all; Pomeranian. Yea, like that just _screamed_ badass. And the fact that his, much larger, partner had picked on him since arriving in this godforsaken world hadn't made the experience any better.

Axel hadn't missed any beats when it came to teasing the smaller other, especially since he was just _so _cute and _so_ adorable as a Pomeranian. Really, he was. A walking ball of fluff is what he described his partner as. And he'd even gotten a new nickname too, 'Roxie the fluff ball'.

"Oh c'mon, Rox. You know I'm only kidding" Roxas shot the redhead, now a weird Collie sort of dog, a warning look.

"Yea, right. You've been picking on me since we _got here_, Axel! It's not cool." The redhead sighed and sat back on his haunches, tail laid out to the side. Roxas padded to a stop, his tiny little feet and legs barely visible from all the hair. "C'mon, we gotta keep moving, I'd rather get this mission over with and not be a frickin' _dog_ anymore." He growled, stepping closer to the sitting redhead.

Roxas had not expected it when a large paw stretched towards him and hooked around his poofy body, dragging him closer to the redhead. He was now situated underneath the larger nobody, having to crane his head all the way back to even catch a glimpse of the redhead. He was frowning the best he could with his new features. Axel lowered his head to make the blond's attempt at seeing him easier.

"I'm sorry, Roxas, I didn't know it was bothering you that much" Roxas sighed and lowered his head to look forward, leaning against one of the long legs placed on either side of him. He unconsciously rubbed his face into the limb, nuzzling the redhead a bit.

"S'okay I guess… It didn't really bother me…" Axel lowered his head further to nuzzle the top of the blond's fluffy head with the tip of his muzzle, before lifting his head a bit and giving the back of the littler blond's head a good lick. Roxas gave a higher the expected yelp and turned his head, showing his tiny teeth in annoyance. Axel just gave a grin, well, he tried to anyway. Having a dog's features made expressions harder to express.

"Chill, Roxas… I'm just being affectionate" Axel calmed, nuzzling the blond's head again.

"Yea, but you don't have to do _that_!" Roxas protested, turning his head and nipping at the other's muzzle gently.

"It's not like I can kiss you any other way…" Axel said before standing and stretching, shaking his legs lightly before trotting a few feet forward. Roxas sat on the cold concrete for a few moments, blinking, before standing and hurrying after Axel.

The patrol went by silently, they made little small talk, but found the silence comforting in a way. When everything had checked out and their mission was all but done, Axel suddenly sat down again, causing Roxas to huff and turn about again. He turned and stepped back over to the redhead.

"Now what, Axel?" He asked rather dryly

"I'm hungry"

"We can eat when we get back to the castle." Roxas reasoned, wanting to get back.

"But the food here is better. It smells better. C'mooon Roxie!" Axel started, then whined when he caught the glare Roxas was sending him. The blond dog pondered this for a moment before sighing . Axel grinned again and stood, tail wagging happily. "We can stay?"

"Just for food. I'm hungry too." Axel yelped happily and jumped over to Roxas, pinning him down with a front leg. "Get off!" Axel complied and stepped back a few steps.

"C'mon Roxie, I know just the place, close your eyes" Axel grinned and lowered his head, snatching the younger by the back of his neck, lifting him from the ground when he saw the blue eyes closed.

Roxas yelped and jerked around until he nearly slipped from Axel's grip, stopping in fear of being dropped.

Tail in the air, Axel padded happily down the street, turning onto an ally and sitting down outside a door, reaching up and whacking the door with a paw. A man answered the door, blinking and looking down to see the pair. Axel had set the blond down and looked up to the man with his green eyes, his tail wagging. The man chuckled knowingly and held a finger up before turning and shouting something.

Roxas kept his eyes shut, mind wandering about the possible situations Axel had just got them both into. He didn't dare peek, knowing Axel would get on him about it and he'd rather avoid that.

"Roxas… Open your eyes" Axel said softly. Slowly the blue orbs, having not changed shades at all even in this dog form, opened. He blinked a few times before looking around and seeing a large pile of hot spaghetti in front of him. It was topped with red sauce and small meatballs.

"Axel…" He murmured, looking around and seeing a candle flickering on the improved table their plate of spaghetti was on. He could hear a soft melody in the background.

"Well. Let's eat, ne? Dig in, Roxie" Axel grinned, sitting patiently, waiting for Roxas to start eating. The blond leaned forward and grabbed a mouthful of the spaghetti, chewing it as best as he could with his now canine set of teeth. After Roxas had taken a few bites, Axel began to eat as well.

That cliché noodle thing, them both eating at the same noodle, only to bump noses in a seemingly kiss, never happened, and they fought over the last meatball.

~o~


	2. Lip Stick

_**Lip Stick**_

**_Disclaimer: Characters (c) Respected Owners_**

~o~

He had always been an okay kid, generally keeping out of trouble unless he came to him. That was his problem. If trouble came to him, he'd never back down.

It's what got him there in the first place.

Axel had just been walking down the street, when a small group of the jocks from his high school had found him. They'd always teased and picked at him. Just because he was open about his sexuality. He was, after all, one of the only kids at school that had opened up to all of the classmates.

From the day that he had gotten transferred to the school he hadn't held himself back. Another problem.

The jocks tried to jump him, not expecting the 'fag' to be able to fight back. But he did. Boy he did.

That's why he was in this desert. Forced to dig holes for who knew how long because he defended himself and he had a homophobic judge.

The other boys all had nicknames, all having earned theirs. He quickly got his, "Pyro"; he'd earned that the day he set fire to a small bush for a source of entertainment.

He kept to himself though, not socializing with the other boys. But he found one boy intriguing. His nickname was 'Thirteen'. He never talked though, but he started to talk to Axel. He told him that his name was really Roxas.

Axel and Roxas became quick friends, digging their holes as quickly as possible to be able to spend the rest of the day together back at the camp.

Roxas had been picked up from the streets, having no where else to send him, he was sent to Camp Greenlake.

One day, Axel had found something in his hole. Anything interesting that was found was to be reported to the warden and that person would be given the day off.

Axel consoled with Roxas, wondering what it was. It looked like a bullet. Too thin to be a shotgun shell, but not shaped the right way to be a rifle bullet. Two Initials were scratched into the side, inside a heart.

K.B.

When Axel showed the warden, he was taken to her building, where it was filled with the cool air from an AC. He showed her and she grinned like mad. While she talked to the counselor that had brought him to her about digging more in that spot, he saw old, browned newspaper articles and wanted signs.

The person wanted?

Kissin' Kairi Barlow.

She had robbed banks, killed men, and lived it up. She earned her name by kissing every man she killed with a fresh coat of lip stick.

Lip stick. Was that what that tube had been?

"Kissin' Kairi Barlow? Really, Axel?" Roxas had asked with skeptics when the redhead had told him about it.

"Yea, it was probably her lip stick tube. She robbed a bunch of banks. What if the warden is looking for her loot, using kids like us as robots to dig and dig to try and find it?"

"That's possible, but what did she do about it?"

"She talked to Mr. Sir about expanding my hole to look for something. What if we find the treasure and get our asses outta here?" Axel asked, slinging and arm around Roxas, who had grown a habit of leaning into the other without a thought.

"That sounds good. We should go after everyone falls asleep. Sneak out and dig in your hole and find it"

"Sounds like a plan, Roxie"

~o~


	3. France

_**France**_

**_Disclaimer: Characters (c) Respected Owners_**

~o~

He didn't even want to go. But his parents were forcing him to go to France on a vacation. He'd rather stay home in Britain and get some music writing done, but no, he had to come with. 'Get out of the house' as his parents put it.

So here he was on a train, on his way to France.

Nothing good could come out of this.

While there, Demyx had gone to every music store he could manage, checking out the instruments and other musical items. If he had gotten a few more Euros from his mother he could get that keyboard.

He counted his money to be sure, and was disappointed to find he was short. He sighed and frowned, continuing to stare longingly at the beautiful instrument.

His old keyboard had water spilled on it, well not spilled, more like _dumped_ or _drowned_ in water. And for once, he hadn't done it. His mother had managed to drop the jug of water she was hefting around to water their plants. She'd tripped and the water had ended up all on it. It was still plugged in.

It had stopped sparking after two minutes…

Then, as he was staring at the instrument, he saw a paler hand extend in front of him, holding a few bills of money, just enough for him to get the instrument. At first, he thought it was his mother, but no, it was a boy. One he'd never seen before.

His hair was cut to cover his face, the right side, and it was a weird periwinkle blue color. He was a few inches shorter then Demyx himself. His visible eye was a pretty blue. Demyx blinked and then grinned sheepishly.

"I can't take that. I don't even know you"

"Zexion Nichols, I'm a Sagittarius, 17, and interested. You can pay me back with a date" His voice was even nice.

"Demyx Ketch, I don't care about horoscopes though, I'm 17 and when can I pick you up?"

"Just added it incase you did, Demyx. 7 is fine, here's my number and hotel and room number"

Maybe something good would come out of this little vacation.

~o~


	4. Umbrella

_**Umbrella**_

_this is a continuation of **France** go to chapter 3 for it :3_

**_Disclaimer: Characters (c) Respected Owners_**

~o~

It was seven. Demyx had gotten dressed up after taking his new keyboard home.

He was standing just outside Zexion's hotel room door. He knocked once and a small woman opened the door.

She blinked a bit in confusion, not understanding why a teen like Demyx would be knocking on the door to their room.

"I'm here to pick up Zexion?" He said a bit sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh, my son. Now how'd he find such a lovely boy like you?" She wondered in a slight teasing tone.

"I met him in the music shop. I helped him buy a new keyboard" Zexion said as he came into view, a small messenger bag over his shoulder and a nicer outfit on.

"Be good now! Be back before 1 am, Zexion"

With that they were off to start their date. They decided to walk around, and maybe stop by the park. But on the way there, it started to lightly rain.

"Oh! I should have looked at the weather channel!" Demyx groaned, sad that the date looked to be ruined. Zexion chuckled and shaked his head.

"It's okay. I have an umbrella" Zexion said, retrieving a blue, compact umbrella from his bag.

"I don't have one…"

"It's big enough to share" Zexion assure, opening the umbrella and holding it high enough for Demyx to duck under it.

Once under, Demyx gently took the umbrella and held it up for them both. Zexion leaned against his arm while they walked, quickly escaping the rain as it got heavier then the light drizzle. They found a nice little café and decided to enter it. They ordered two hot chocolates and settled down in a booth. Zexion had pulled out a small sketchbook and was drawing for Demyx.

The blond hadn't realized he'd put his arm around Zexion until he felt the other lean against him. He couldn't help but grin at that.

When it was time for Zexion to be home, they packed up and Demyx walked him back to the hotel. It hadn't stopped raining yet, but they were content to walk underneath the umbrella.

This vacation was turning out pretty damn good.

~o~


	5. Roxas

_**Roxas**_

**_Disclaimer: Characters (c) Respected Owners_**

~o~

Demyx was never one to share his music, his precious i-Pod, but he made the usually one exception for his longtime boyfriend Zexion. He didn't even think about it, he just did.

It was a usual thing that they did, share the small black buds from Demyx's i-Pod, listening to song after song from his massively large storage of music. They usually were sprawled out on their bed, although they'd lay on their stomach whenever Zexion had a book he wanted to read. But when he didn't he was content to snuggle affectionately with his slightly older boyfriend from underneath the warm arm.

Today Zexion had his nose stuck in a thick volume of pages, laying on his stomach with his hair pushed out of the way, his reading glasses sitting on his nose. He was getting more and more into it. He was so into it he hadn't noticed it when Demyx joined him on the bed, not even when the blond draped his arm around the blunette's shoulders.

Demyx found it cute and let him be, playing contently with his i-Pod

When Zexion was almost halfway, the blond leaned down and kissed the younger's cheek in an attempt to bring the focused Zexion back a bit. It worked and earned him a surprised yelp and blush from his boyfriend.

"Demyx! Don't do that! You scared me." Zexion scolded lightly

"I've been here for almost a hour; you were caught up in that book. What's it about?" Demyx enquired, handing Zexion the other black bud and changing the song on the i-Pod.

Zexion's face softened and he smiled, nuzzling the other man lightly.

"It's about a boy named Roxas… He's just a teenager, almost seventeen, and he starts to have these weird dreams. They're weird because he's having them about a guy he's never met. But in the dreams, they seem to be the closest of friends, best friends. It really bothers him, especially when the dreams start growing to something… Different. And one day, when he's out on a walk, he meets the mystery guy. Turns out the other guy was experiencing the same thing, the dreams. When they went to introduce themselves, they already had known the other's name."

Demyx listened to the small explanation of the book, pausing the music to hear better even.

"What happens? What's the other guy's name?" Zexion smiled and looked to the blond's face before looking back to the book.

"His name is Axel. And for as far as I've gotten, they grew to be fast best friends. They just… _knew_ things about each other. It'd be hard to not be friends. And for that reason, Roxas starts to get these feelings, and he doesn't know what to do. Even though Axel's facing the same thing. They're too shy and reluctant to somehow ruin their friendship when it would just grow to a relationship. That's all I've gotten to so far though."

"Axel, huh?" Demyx tested.

"And Roxas…"

~o~


	6. Rose

_**Rose**_

**_Disclaimer: Characters (c) Respected Owners_**

~o~

"A Rose by any other-"

"shut up, Axel"

"Whaaat?" The redhead drawled, looking back to the blond "I was _trying_ to be romantic"

"You were being stupid, now c'mon you idiot. We have errands to run" Roxas said dryly, taking a hold of the redhead's arm but not being able to drag the elder anywhere.

"But Roxiiiie-"

"No buts, c'mon you sap" Roxas insisted, trying to hid the smile on his face by tugging harder and finally getting the elder to walk.

"Aw, you still love meee~ I know you do~" Axel grinned in victory.

"Shut up"

"You loooove meee~" Axel grinned more, leaning down and kissing the blond's cheek.

"Yes, Axel, I love you… Now… We have to go home" Axel paused for a moment only to be dragged again

"Wha? Why? What about the err-" Axel tried, only to be interrupted _again_.

"C'mon Axel!"

~o~


	7. Octopus

_**Octopus**_

**_Disclaimer: Characters (c) Respected Owners_**

~o~

"Hi Sor-Ah!" Riku had started, only to be cut off by a smaller brunette almost tackling him to the ground, latching onto the silverette's side. His feet weren't even touching the ground.

"Sora… What are you doing?" Riku asked with a raised brow as Sora wiggled around and tried to get onto the other's back. When he succeeded in doing so, he latched his arms around Riku's neck and his legs around his waist.

"Ima octopus and Ima clings to yous" Sora said matter a factly, nuzzling the silverette's neck and hair.

Riku smiled and sighed, shaking his head and secured his arms under the brunette's knees, keeping him up and stable. He'd rather avoid being choked like the last time Sora was on his back.

"Okay Sora. Where does the octopus wanna go?"

"To the beach of course!"

~o~


	8. Shorts

_**Shorts**_

**_Disclaimer: Characters (c) Respected Owners_**

~o~

They were shorts._ Shorts _damnit!

Hayner didn't know how many times now that he'd told Seifer that. And the older blond still didn't believe him!

Seifer had to say they were _capris._ Only _girls_ wore capris. And Hayner was certainly not a girl. He was tough and manly and there was no way in hell he wore_ capris._

"Pants then!" Seifer exclaimed in frustration

"They're too short to be pants!"

"Too long to be shorts!!"

"Urrg!!"

~o~


	9. Scissors

_**Scissors**_

**_Disclaimer: Characters (c) Respected Owners_**

~o~

"Go get the scissors, Sora… And walk! Hold them so they point to the ground!" Riku said, adding the last two bits when he saw Sora hurry back after snatching the scissors.

"Okay, okay. Jeez, Riku" Sora grumbled, plopping back down on the floor next to Riku.

"I only do it 'cause I don't want you to get hurt" Riku said, using the fetched scissors to cut out a few shapes out from construction paper.

"Yay! I knew you cared!" Sora squealed happily, wiggling around in excitement.

"No. I'm just don't want to have to replace you if you die. I'm much to lazy to do that" Sora's happy grin turned into an angry frown at the words.

"You're so mean, Riku! I hate you!!" Sora huffed and stood, crossing his arms over his chest and stomping away.

Riku gasped and shot up, racing after his best friend. "Sora! No! I'm sorry! I was only teasing…" He said after encasing the smaller boy in his arms.

Sora grinned and shook his head. "It's okay, Riku! I was just getting you back! I could never hate you!"

~o~


	10. Hitler

**_Hitler_**

**_Disclaimer: Characters (c) Respected Owners_**

~o~

Zack sat grudgingly in his last hour of class he had that day. The only light that portrayed from this class, besides it being the last one he had to attend, was that Cloud was present in the room, better yet he was sitting right beside Zack, and even better then that, was the fact they were in the very back row of the room. Giving them the farthest distance possible from their professor, who was droning on about World War II, the massive Genocide, and Adolph Hitler.

"Cloud" Zack whispered to the blond beside him. He received a small grunt of half-hearted acknowledgment. "Clooouud" He insisted further, wanting more attention then that from his spiky-haired blond.

"What, Zack?" Cloud whispered back, glancing at Zack out of the corner of his eye, which were framed in silver rimmed glasses, being necessary because they were so far back. He, unlike Zack, took the notes they were instructed to in class.

"I'm booored…" Zack whined quietly, pouting a bit.

"Then take the notes you're supposed to be taking" Cloud grunted back, glaring momentarily at Zack, then went back to taking said notes.

"No way, man. Not when I'll just copy yours back at the dorm"

"Then don't bother me or I won't let you copy them!" Cloud hissed, continued to look ahead at the board.

"Aw, don't be like tha-"

"Fair. Kindly answer the question. As it seems you must already know the answer since you are not taking the required notes and are talking to Strife" The Professor all but barked to be sure Zack had heard him.

Zack paled, not having heard the question resorted to glancing at Cloud who wasn't looking at him. Unlike most of the other class, who had turned to look at the dark-haired male. "Er…"

"The question, a very simple one at that, was 'What was the title, or name, of the group of people that Adolph Hitler considered the 'Perfect Race'? What would they have needed to fit into said group?' " The professor recited

Zack blinked, blue eyes filled with slight confusion at the elder male's wording as he tried to decipher the questions.

"Er…-"

" 'Er' is not an answer"

"I know! What I meant was…" Zack said quickly, blue eyes once more glancing over at Cloud for help. He was in luck; the blond was looking at him, but only received a small smirk. Cloud wasn't going to help him out of this one. _'That damned Chocobo bastard! I'm not touching him for the rest of the day! Maybe even the whole week. Gaia damn-'_

"Your answer, Fair? Or would you like to write an essay on this subject?" The professor's voice threatened, bringing Zack back from his thoughts.

"No, no! They, er, they were called Aryans!" Zack said quickly, having spotted a glint in the professor's eye at his use of 'er' again.

"Quite right, now the rest of your answer?"

"They, Aryans, were classified as such because of their physical appearance. Blond hair and blue eyes. Jewish people weren't allowed in either, nor were Gypsies or the crippled or mentally challenged or those deemed mentally insane" Zack answered quickly, hoping his answer would suffice.

"That's right. Seems you do pay attention. Aryans were Hitler's version of the perfect person. Race. We even have examples in the room. Rikku, yes you girl, would have passed. Deeming you're not of Jewish dependences? No? Alright then. Why, Fair, even your little friend Strife would have passed. Especially seeing how he's a man. Much more desirable. Mmm… Fair, you've got the eyes, but not the hair. You might've survived… Used for hard labor… Anyway! Hitler killed himself in the year…" The professor said, using Cloud and Rikku for examples, seeing how they both had blond hair and blue eyes.

When class let out at last, Zack was the first one out the door, closely followed by Cloud.

"He hates me! I _know_ he does! Did you hear him? _'You might've survived. Used for hard labor.'_!" Zack ranted to the quiet blond, his temper having been flared a bit.

"Maybe if you'd take notes-" Cloud had started patiently but was cut off by Zack

"I do the work! I've never missed an assignment!"

"Never said you didn't. Now calm down, hot-head" Cloud said, slipping an arm around Zack's waist, waiting for the dark haired male's arm to wind around his shoulders like it usually did. When it didn't he looked up at Zack's face, eyes catching the scar on his jaw momentarily before going higher to his nearly identical blue eyes, which weren't looking at him. "Oh, you can't be _mad_ at me! He would have given both of us essays if I had helped you!" Cloud said, knowing what Zack was mad at him for.

Said man huffed a bit then glanced down at Cloud, frowning "You've got a point there…"

"See? Don't take your anger at the professor out on me" The smaller of the two said, faking a pout.

Zack's arm wound around Cloud at last with a groaned "Aw, don't be like thaaat"

Cloud smiled in victory and momentarily tightened his arm around Zack, which got returned with a squeeze and a kiss to his hair.

"I couldn't yell at you or be mad at you anyway, Chokie" Zack muttered, using his pet name for Cloud

"Not that nickname! I've told you, Zack! I'm not a Chocobo!" Cloud playfully snapped, secretly finding the pet name rather adorable and cute.

"Ah, you love it" Zack replied smoothly, knowing that Cloud was trying to hid the fact he liked it.

"Keep calling me that and it's good bye to copying my notes! In _all_ our shared classes!" Cloud threatened with a smirk, wiggling out of Zack's grip and dashed towards the dorms. Zack stood there with a blank expression before a panicked one over came his face and he groaned and hurried after Cloud to their shared dorm.

"Aw! Cloud! Babe! C'mon, I didn't mean it!!" Zack called "CLOUD!? C'MON! I WAS ONLY KIDDING!!!"

~o~

**a/n: I know I don't add these on here, but I am sorry to anyone who's alerted this fic. I've had problems uploading it DX sorry for the spam!**


	11. Police

_**Police**_

_**Characters © Respected Owners**_

~o~

"Only Police behind this line!" A man shouted angrily at the redhead stepping over the yellow tape, stepping aside for his darker skinned partner to follow in suit.

"I said no stepping over the line! Step back over the line, Sirs! I'll arrest you!" The same man continued to bark orders at the two men that had stepped over the boundry. He received an annoyed scowl from the redhead and silence from the bald man.

"I _said_-!"

"Can it, yo! Gaia! Just shut up!!" The redhead snapped, tapping the uncharged ERS against his shoulder irritably. His partner said nothing, but a corner quirked up slightly in a tiny smirk.

"Why you!? I'll ar-"

"SHUT. UP. We wouldn't be here if we knew we couldn't! Sweet Gaia, just close that hole in your face!" The redhead snapped again, glaring darkly at the male that had flared his temper. "We're _Turks_, so you'll hold your tongue if you know what's good for you" He added, still scowling deeply at the man.

"Reno" The bald man finally spoke, giving his partner a glance from behind his dark shades.

"What, Rude? Don't stick up for him! He had no right" The redhead, Reno, said. He tried to keep from snapping at his partner, though.

"I wasn't. But he obviously didn't know-"Rude had started calmly but was cut off by the ranting redhead again.

" 'Didn't know' my ass! Look at our _clothes_! I've got my _standard-issue TURK ERS_ out! How could he not know?!" Reno insisted, not noticing when the police man scampered off, not wanting to face the fury unto which he'd unleashed.

"Raised under a rock?" Rude offered, trying to get Reno to laugh so he'd calm back down.

Now, you couldn't really blame the redhead. He'd just gotten back from a _three-day _mission. The man was tired and was looking forward to lazing about the entire day. But no, he had to be called out to do active duty again. He wouldn't have minded it so much if it were paperwork, as he'd be pretty stationary and could rest up but nooo.

Reno's deep scowl twitched a bit, Rude's words having helped his temper. Rude noticed and leaned down a bit, speaking low enough to make sure that only Reno would hear him.

As the bald man spoke lowly, Reno's frown and scowl slowly turned to a happy grin, looking up at Rude when he had stood back up.

"Really? You mean it?" He asked happily, blue eyes filled with wonder and excitement.

"Mhm, I've already got it all setup. I was going to wait until we got back home, but I decided it couldn't wait until then" Rude explained calmly while Reno looked about ready to fling himself at the taller man in his delight.

"Oh wow! Thanks, Ru!" He said happily, using the nickname he had for Rude, somehow keeping himself from launching himself at Rude. Just barely though.

The mission went well, better then the redhead could have hoped after the rocky start.

When they got home, Reno found everything ready, and with a quick check of things, they were off.

Taking the well needed vacation Rude had setup for just the two of them.

~o~

**a/n: Hell hath no fury like a scorned Reno**


	12. Boat

_**Boat**_

_**Disclaimer: Characters (c) Respected Owners**_

~o~

One, two, three, four, five, six…

"Breathe damnit!"

Nine, ten, eleven, twelve…

"Reno! Breaaathe! C'mon!"

One, two, three

One, two, three

"Reeen!! Open your eyes! Breaaathe!!!"

A sputter, hacked cough came from the redhead suddenly, body convulsing slightly before it went still again, chest heaving and body giving off tremors and shivers

"N-Nn… R-R-Ru-Ruu-Rude" Reno shivered, teeth clacking together as he tried to huddle in on himself to conserve his body heat. Rude gave a deep sigh of relief and dragged the redhead into his arms.

"J-Jesus, Ren… You scared the shit out of me" Rude sighed once more, face tucked in against the redhead's neck, lips pressed to his skin, right above the other's pulse.

"Hn… Sorry, yo… Didn't mean it…" Reno said back, still trying to get his grip on things again.

"S'alright. Just don't do it again" Rude felt the other go a bit lax and pulled back and shook him "None of that. Stay awake" He said, knowing it was important Reno didn't pass out.

Reno gritted his teeth and forced his eyes to stay open, only blinking when he had to.

"Let's get you dry and warm and then you can sleep all you want" Rude proposed, fitting his arms under the redhead and stood carefully, not caring if he got his own clothes wet as he lifted the younger up. Reno shivered at the movement of the cold air around him before snuggling against Rude's chest.

"O-Okay… Y-Yo" He responded, snuggled nicely as he felt a bit warmer, just enough to make talking and thinking clearer. "N-No more boats for a while, yo… No more missions on boats"

"No, no more. Don't want you to actually drown next time." Rude said with a small chuckle, leaning down to nuzzle at the redhead's wet cheek.

"Stay awake, Reno" He reiterated sternly, pulling back a bit to look at the other.

"But you're all warm!" Reno countered, pouting a bit.

"Wait till we get home"

"Fine, but I'm using you as my pillow then, yo" The redhead huffed finally, pouting still. Rude chuckled again and leaned down to kiss at the redhead's nose.

"Wouldn't want it any other way, Ren"

~o~


	13. Stars

_**Stars**_

_**Characters © respected owners**_

~o~

"What's so great about stars, yo? I don't get it" Reno said suddenly, frowning up at the twinkling lights in the night sky.

"What? What exactly do you mean, Ren?" Rude replied, questioning the redhead further to understand his partner better.

Reno glared seemingly at the stars, blinking when another voice piqued in.

"I was told they're representative of the dead souls, y'know, and all the people that have died"

Reno turned his head and frowned over at Zack.

"You would believe that. Stars die all the time, yo." The redhead said back, frowning a bit more.

"Then that means that that person's soul has moved on, found peace" Cloud's voice floated over from the other side of Zack, the blond not being very visible from Reno's angle. He didn't bother to speak very loudly and caused the redhead to strain to hear.

"Yo, speak up. I've been around multiple bomb explosions, my hearin' ain't what it used to be" Reno said to Cloud, and then hummed as Cloud repeated his sentence for him.

"Other galaxies?" Demyx wondered from a short distance away, curled up to the side of Reno's cousin Axel.

"Maybe, why are we talking about this anyway?" A slightly annoyed voice came over from Seifer, hands cradling the back of his neck.

"Reno asked Rude something, and then Zack threw his two cents in, which caused Cloud then Demyx to speak." Axel explained, turning his head to look at Seifer while he spoke.

"I was just curious, yo! Jeez, justa question" Reno said, looking back over his shoulder before snuggling back up to Rude.

"A stupid que-mhth!" Seifer had started before a hand quickly covered his mouth; said blond turned and frowned at the blond who was connected to that hand.

"None of that. Don't piss off those two! They're _Turks_, you idiot." Hayner chastised the elder blond, frowning at Seifer sternly. "Besides, it's mean. Keep quiet you" Hayner added a moment later, moving his hand from Seifer's mouth.

Reno had turned back over with a lazy, slightly annoyed look on his face while Rude all but glared over his partner's hair.

"Smart boy. Better listen to him, Seif. You're my friend, yes, but I won't hesitate to remind you I'm from the Turks. That or I'll let Rude do it for me. Your choice" He said with a small smile, causing Zack to shrink a bit beside Cloud while Axel chuckled from his spot a few feet away.

Seifer flushed a bit, in anger and embarrassment and glanced away, murmuring slightly. Hayner sighed and rolled his eyes at Seifer before they all fell into a comfortable silence.

That is. Until Reno piqued in again.

"So, no one's gonna answer my question? Seriously, yo?"

~o~


	14. Washington

_**Washington**_

_**Characters © Respected owners**_

~o~

"And whhhhyyy do we have to do this again, Rude?" Reno asked, slightly shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Said person hummed and sighed a bit.

"Bossman, promised to 'lend' us to the president of this country. Lost a bet I heard" Rude said calmly, hands folded neatly in front of him as per his usual stance.

"That bastard! Sneaky little bastard…" Reno growled slightly. Rude chuckled and ruffled Reno's hair, rubbing the younger's neck a bit too, breaking the stance as he stepped closer to Reno.

"Calm down, you. We'll be fine. Mostly likely boring but fine" Rude assured, chuckling more at Reno's reactions to his affections, purring softly then frowning when it was gone.

"That's what I'm talking about. It's gonna be boring as hell. But at least the plane ride is long and niiice." Reno said after a moment, Rude having nodded in agreement and smiled.

"Yes, this… what was it? Washington D… C? It's a while away"

"And I'm going to sleeeep. You don't mind right?" Reno asked, looking up at Rude, he got another chuckle and hair ruffle.

"No, I'm sleeping too. Besides, watching you sleep is adorable." He assured, grinning a small grin at Reno.

"Great! I get to use up as a pillow then!" Reno grinned happily back at Rude, not being able to resist giving Rude a small snuggle, which was returned with a kiss to his temple.

"America, hm?" Reno asked a few minutes later, having enjoyed the silence a bit.

"So it seems, wonder if its like how every says it is" Rude answered, humming afterwards in thought.

"More then likely, hope they're ready for us" Reno said, smirking a bit.

"Doubt it, no one's ever ready for us. Oh well, they can deal" Rude answered, chuckling lowly.

"When's the flight?" Reno asked suddenly, looking back up at the other, stepping into the living room.

"Five thirty, about two hours" Rude answered, "We're packed already too" He added after a moment.

"Okay, c'mon, I wanna cuddle" Reno said, grinning as he plopped down on the couch.

"You always want to cuddle" Rude mused as he sat down beside Reno, chuckling once again as the redhead crawled into hi lap and got comfortable, nuzzling his face into the other's neck. Rude returned the gesture by winding his arms around Reno and keeping his partner close.

"You love it"

"Obviously, elsewise I wouldn't put up with you"

~o~


	15. Tigers

_**Tigers**_

_**Characters © Respected Owners**_

~o~

Deadly, dangerous, quick, ruthless.

Thus were words often used to describe Turks. They were specially trained assassins and body guards, built up to kill and complete missions and to protect what they'd been assigned.

Not everyone could be a Turk, they had high standards for their small group, that being said, and it meant they were the elite of the elite. And at this moment there were only five of them, but from the five, it was probably the most deadly and perfected group of Turks that ShinRa had ever seen.

Tseng was the leader, and he was the oldest of them all, nearly in his fifties. He usually guarded the President, Rufus ShinRa, now, having gotten a bit too old for most missions that would be done more proficiently by his subordinates.

Reno was right under Tseng, which was an achievement on its own as he was one of the youngest of them all. Then came his partner Rude. He and Rude were the usual pair to send out on missions, they did minor body-guarding, only stepping in for Tseng when the elder male wasn't able to guard Rufus. They got all of the hard mission and had yet to fail on a single mission, no matter how hard it was. Assassination wise, they had the top number of bounties claimed, being the best out of all the Turks.

Elena and Cissnei, the two girls, came after them. They did most of the easier missions and assassinations, leaving the harder ones for Reno and Rude. Cissnei was the youngest of the Turks, and was much more professional then her blond haired counter part, Elena. Said blond had a mouth sometimes. But overall she got the job done, eventually.

Going back to Rude and Reno, the two partners had been paired up a long time ago, back when Reno had first joined the Turks when he was younger, just having turned eighteen. Rude had been twenty one and had been with the Turks for about three years. Now fast-forward ten years, when Reno was twenty-eight and Rude now thirty-one.

It had taken them nearly their now decade of partnership to realize that things ran deeper then they probably should have for Turks, you don't date a co-worker. It just makes it that much worse when they get gunned down. Or so Tseng had said. But when did Reno ever follow the rules? And when had he ever been unable to get Rude to follow?

The answer; never.

So now, they were like a pair of tigers, deadly, dangerous cats. Something no one ever dared mess with, lest they risk being injured or killed.

Since, messing with a Turk was like messing with a full-grown tiger. You were playing with death itself, gambling your life.

~o~


	16. Edible

_**Edible**_

_**Characters © Respected Owners**_

~o~

Hayner was panicking. Full out panicking. And it was his typical panicking, filled with cusses and curses, swearing like a sailor.

He just had to mess this up. This one, important thing, he had to fail.

He'd been so excited for this plan, that he'd done another typical Hayner thing; he hadn't formed so much as single back up plan incase this very thing happened.

It was Seifer's nineteenth birthday and Hayner had decided to bake him a cake, decorate it, and then surprise Seifer with it.

But he'd burnt the cake so badly that Hayner doubted it was even edible at this point, it was charred and nearly completely black when it had started out as a yellow cake. And also at this point, he was so frustrated with himself he was driving him to near tears and the simple fact of him getting so emotional over something like burnt cake frustrated him even more. It certainly was a vicious cycle.

So when Seifer got home, Hayner was now living with the elder blond because when Hayner had told his parents about Seifer and their new, odd relationship, his parents had promptly kicked him out of the house, Hayner had been holding the pan with the charred remains of cake.

Seifer came into the kitchen with a frown, having smelt the burnt cake from the doorway.

"What the he- What's wrong?" Seifer had started to say but then saw the other's face, walking over to the other with a small sigh and ruffling the other's hair a bit "Hey, no being upset on my birthday. Total mood killer man."

Hayner frowned more and looked down at the failed creation he held.

"But I tried to make you a cake, only it didn't work…" He countered, still frowning.

Seifer took the pan from Hayner and placed it on the counter before pulling the younger into a rather nice, and somewhat rare, hug.

"Don't worry about it, it's the thought that counts" He assured, not sure why he was doing it, but didn't put too much though to it.

"Okay… Happy birthday, Seif" Hayner said back, mumbling into the now slightly taller's shoulder as he enjoyed the hug.

"Thanks, Hay-Hay" Seifer sighed, using a really old nickname he had for the other, younger blond.

"You're still a pedo though" Hayner teased after a minute of silence, leaning back to smirk up at the other.

Seifer rolled his eyes and gave Hayner a seemingly warning squeeze. "Hey, s'not my fault. Turn eighteen already" the elder blond said back.

"I will next year."

"Hurry up."

"Can't. And was that your stomach?" Hayner asked suddenly, having both felt and heard the other's stomach grumble at them.

"Yes, I'm hungry." Seifer confirmed, glancing down at his stomach.

"Then let's get you some food. Something… Edible" Hayner said, having glanced at the blackened cake briefly.

Seifer chuckled and released the other from his hug, nodding. "Sound's good, go make me dinner" He said, grabbing the younger's shoulders and turning him around, giving him a small push then a good smack on the ass.

Hayner jumped and looked over his shoulder, sending the elder a dark glare. "Hey! I'm not a girl! Don't treat me like one!"

"Whatever, lamer. It's my birthday; I'll treat you how I want."

"Bastard."

~o~


	17. Heel

_**Heel**_

_**Characters © Respected Owners**_

~o~

"Nonononooo!! Taaaashaaaa!! Heel, girl! Noooo! Aaaaah, Ruuuuuuddde! Heeeeelllp meeeee!!!!!" Reno shouted, trying to get control of the running dog that was dragging him down the sidewalk, but was failing, she was a full-grown German Sheppard and she wasn't going to stop anytime soon and proceeded to continue to tug the redhead behind her.

Rude simply chuckled and shook his head and kept up with the running dog and stumbling redhead.

"You have to walk her remember? I'm not allowed to help you" Rude reminded, staying calm while Reno continued to panic.

"I'M NOT SCARED OF THE DAMN DOG! HEELLP MEEE!!" Reno shouted back, panic rising as he almost stumbled and fell to the ground, only catching himself at the last second.

Rude sighed and stopped jogging behind the redhead and gave a sharp whistle causing Tasha's ears to perk up. She skidded to a stop and Reno almost fell over her, not having expected her to stop so quickly.

Reno did end up falling back onto his ass, panting slightly as Tasha sat beside him, panting happily in his face. Reno made a disgusted face and shoved at her shoulder lightly

"Ew… Nooo dun do that" He said with a smile, but then frowned as the dog licked his cheek rather wetly, getting drool all over that side of his face. He started backwards and groaned.

"EW! Bad, Tash! No lickeh the faaace" Reno complained to the dog, wiping at the slobber now coating his cheek.

Rude chuckled as he reached the pair, crouching down beside the dog and patted her head in a greeting.  
"Hey girl," All he received was a happy yap, and a slight glare from Reno. "What?"

"She licked my face and she didn't lick you at all. You just got a bark" Reno huffed a bit, pouting slightly as he crossed his arms over his chest. Rude rolled his eyes and poked Reno's nose playfully

"No pouting you, besides you owe me for that" Rude teased with a grin, knowing the other would smile at it, and wasn't disappointed with that fact.

Reno rolled his eyes and smiled "Fiiiine. At least she stopped running…" He said with a smile, patting the german Sheppard lightly.

"Yes, now let's get her back to Axel's house and then go home so you can pay off your debt" Rude said, taking the leash from Reno before standing and offering him hand so he could help the younger up. After both of them were up and standing, Reno snatched the leash back from Rude.

"_I'm_ supposed to walk her, _remember_?" He teased, started back to Axel's house.

Rude chuckled and nodded "Fine, walk her then."

"And theeen I'll pay off my debt in full" Reno said with a slight smirk.

"Good, wouldn't want you to procrastinate" Rude replied, smirking back at the other male.

After dropping Tasha back at Axel's house, and having a short conversation with him, the two headed back to their own small house, still sending each other teasing comments the entire way there.

~o~


	18. Pie

_**Pie**_

_**Character © Respected Owners**_

~o~

"Okay, we have a few things to do around the house, fix some things, so you can just watch Reno and make sure he doesn't make a mess, okay? You can have some of the pie too, Rude if you want some. Don't be afraid to make yourself right at home, alright? I'll be back to check in soon" Demy7x explained while he put the now three year old Reno up in his highchair, strapping the young redhead in before placing the tray over his lap, giving his son's hair a nice ruffle, which got a giggle and squirm from the young boy.

His red spikes had grown more and covered more of his forehead, while his small tan birthmarks under his eyes had grown a bit, lining the blue orbs even more, but Rude hardly noticed, having been around Reno so much since he'd first met him that day when they'd first met.

"Okay, I'll make sure he doesn't make a mess" Rude replied politely, something a bit odd for a seven-year old.

Demyx chuckled and patted Rude's shoulder. "You don't have to be so polite and uptight around us, Rude, you know that. Ah well, I'll check in on you, Axel's calling" He said, turning when he heard the elder redhead's shout.

Rude nodded and then relaxed more when Demyx was gone. It wasn't that Rude disliked the adults, quite the contrary; he found he got along better with them then kids his own age. But the bald boy found he got along best with Reno, despite the age gap. It had never really bothered the boy at all, not really paying any mind to it. Especially now that his best friend had started to talk, after a long time of anticipating it, even one more thing that prided the boy, was that Reno's first word was 'Ru', being the bald boy's nickname. Of course he could now pronounce 'Rude' but he usually used the nickname.

"Ru! Yo, Ru!" The younger redhead said once his blond father had left. Rude noticed that Reno only used his nickname now, when he was sure that they were alone and no adults were around.

"Hi, Reno. It's been a little while huh? Sorry, buddy, I was busy with school. But I'm on break now and I'll be around a lot more!" Rude replied with a smile, lifting his hand to repeat the motion that Demyx had, ruffling the red spikes sitting atop Reno's head. Reno, as always, adored the action. Especially when Rude did it, and squirmed with a giggle and nuzzled the other's hand with the top of his head, grinning a happy grin, all of his teeth having grown in, well all the baby teeth.

"Ish okay, Ru" Reno said then, only really caring when the elder boy got to spend time with him, like now.

"Okay, here, lemme go get your piece of pie okay? I'll be right back, Ren" Rude said and then went to fetch the small portion of pie that Demyx had cut for Reno, then got himself just a little bit bigger piece, having noticed the extra plate.

"Here you go, Ren. One piece of pumpkin pie" Rude said, placing the plastic plate on the tray before handing the redhead his blue plastic fork.

Reno didn't give the fork so much a glance before he grabbed a fist full of the gooey orange pie and proceeded to shove it into his mouth, getting it all over his cheeks and chin, his nose getting some on it as well.

"Ah! Ren! Use the fork, you're making a mess!" Rude frowned, standing back up and walking over to the younger boy.

"Noooo! I dun like usin' tha ferk!" Reno protested, proving his point by grabbing another fistful and repeated what he'd done, proceeding to get more of the sticky pie all over, grinning through the mess.

"Ah, Reno! C'mon, I don't wanna get in trouble!!" Rude said, turning and going to get a washcloth, brining it over and then went about wiping all the pie off Reno's slightly chubby features and then his hand and tray.

Reno frowned rather cutely and huffed, crossing his arms "Fiiine. I'll use tha ferk…"

Rude frowned as well and rugged his friends head, effectively ruffling the hair again, which caused the frown to disappear rather quickly.

"Sorry, Ren, I just don't want us in trouble. Hey… How about I make it up to you and feed you? That way you won't have to use the fork and there won't be a mess" Rude offered, having leaned in a bit to speak softer, something the elder boy had done as a habit whenever he plotted with his best friend.

Reno's own pale eyes widened before he grinned and squirmed a bit "Wealleh? You do that, Ru?" He asked in slight wonder, eyes staying wide.

Rude nodded and leaned in a bit more to whisper to Reno "Yea, just don't tell no one. I have a reputation to hold up after all" Rude held a small finger up to his lips with a small wink.

Reno giggled and covered his mouth with his hands while he squirmed a bit, nodding when he calmed down enough "Okay! I won't tell no one!" Reno promised, mimicking the other's hand gesture with a grin.

Rude grinned back at Reno and scooped a small bit onto the fork and then lifted the fork close to Reno's mouth, where the three year leaned forward and chomp down on the plastic fork, scrapping the pie off of it with his baby teeth and lips.

Rude continued the action, joking and playing with Reno in between bites, his own piece of pie long forgotten while he enjoyed Reno's presence.

The two boys didn't even notice Demyx when he returned to check in on them, words on his lips but they were lost once he saw the scene before him, wishing he had a camera to document the rather adorable sight before him. He simply turned and returned to Axel to tell him of the cute sight.

~o~


	19. Dolphin

_**Dolphin**_

_**Characters © Respected Owners**_

~o~

Axel had it all set up, had had it planned for a few years now. And he couldn't wait to get it started and rolling

He had planned to surprise his longtime boyfriend with not only two tickets to SeaWorld, but a chance to swim with the dolphins. Demyx had always wanted to do that, ever since he was really little when they first met, so Axel was glad he could give the blond a chance at it. Besides, he would enjoy it as well. Dolphins had been his favorite animal since before he'd met Demyx. In fact, he'd met the blond on one of his annual trips to the local aquarium to see his friends, the dolphins.

Now he only needed to figure out a way to surprise Demyx with the tickets. He decided eventually to just give them to the blond over dinner that night.

Demyx had been so surprised and happy over the tickets he had found in the envelope Axel gave him; he'd nearly gotten out of his chair and glomped the older man.

"Oh my god, Ax! You really got tickets to SeaWorld?!" Demyx had asked in excitement, staring at the pieces of paper in his hands.

"Yep, dad got them for me, your dad chipped in too" Axel said with a smile, happy to see that Demyx was excited over it.

"He did? I'll have to give dad a ring and thank him then" Demyx then stood and stepped over to Axel, leaning down and hugging the elder close.

"… And thank you, Axel…. This means a lot to me" Demyx said softly against the redhead's neck then pulled back to smile at Axel happily.

"I know, I've wanted to do something nice for you for a while now, especially since we didn't have that big of an anniversary." Axel said with a grin, leaning forward to press his lips to Demyx's in a sweet kiss. "You're welcome, too. " He added when the kiss was broken.

"Shall we go pack? We only have a few days. I already go us both off of work." Axel asked with a smile.

"Yea!" Demyx cheered, pulling Axel up and then raced to their bedroom to pack for the sudden vacation.

~o~

"Ooooh woooow, Axel! This day has been amazing!" Demyx purred, being snuggled up against Axel happily.

"Ah, ah, the day isn't even over, I've got one more surprise for you, Demyx" Axel said with a grin.

"Huh? There's _more_?" Demyx asked Axel in shock and wonder, he hadn't expected anything more. SeaWorld was already so much on its own.

"Yep. And it trumps just coming to SeaWorld." Axel replied, wrapping his arm around Demyx's waist and started to lead him to the already set up tank.

Demyx squirmed in excitement.

"Really? Oh my got, what's next?" He asked in his fit of excitement.

"You'll see, I don't want to ruin the surprise, Demyx." Axel said with a grin, Demyx pouted a bit but didn't ask any further, knowing it get him anywhere.

Axel chuckled and continued to lead Demyx to the dolphin tank, deciding to cover Demyx's eyes with his own hands just to be certain the surprise would be that much better.

When they finally reached the tank Axel grinned and uncovered his boyfriend's eyes with his hands, happy to see the other hand his eyes shut under them. He then leaned down and whispered into the younger's ear.

"Okay, now you can look"

Slowly Demyx blinked his eyes open and proceeded to gasp.

"Axel! Is this what I think it is?!" He asked, turning around to face the elder, eyes wide and bright with excitement.

"Depends, does your idea include swimming with them?" Axel asked, smiling back at the other.

"Oh my god! Really? _Swim_ with the dolphins? Axel, oh my god this is the best surprise _ever_!! Thank you!!" Demyx said quickly, throwing his arms around Axel in a tight hug, nuzzling his face into the elder's neck happily.

Axel chuckled and returned the hug, pressing a kiss to the younger's neck, smiling against the skin at how happy Demyx seemed to be.

"You're welcome, Demyx. I'm just glad I got to do this for you" He said with a grin "I mean, it was the dolphins that brought us together in the first place."

"Yes, just, wow, Ax. This is amazing!" Demyx said with a grin, bouncing a bit in his excitement.

"Well, let's go _do it_ instead of just talking about it" Axel said, tugging the other towards the room to change into the rented wetsuits.

After changing into the new wetsuits, Axel then lead them to the top of the tank where the instructor's stood, ready for the two.

"Hey there! I'm Sora and this is my partner Riku and you guys are gonna swim with our dolphins!" The brunette of the two instructors explained to them, introducing the other while he explained.

"Alright, which of you wants to go first?" Riku, as introduced, asked.

"Go ahead, Demyx. This is for you after all" Axel said, giving the blond a reassuring push.

Demyx grinned and stepped forward when Riku did, then with the silverette's help, got eased into the water and introduced to one of the dolphins. Axel felt his chest swell with joy and pride when Demyx threw him a glance, grinning one of his brightest grins.

And then with a surprised laugh, the dolphin quickly darted forward, its tail flicking up and down quickly. All Demyx could do was cling to the strong mammal's dorsal fin.

Then Axel got his own turn, and it was something he'd never quite felt before. It was so uplifting and freeing it was unreal.

They spent as long as they could swimming and goofing off with the intelligent mammals, having one of the best times ever, and making a precious memory. They only left when they had to and then returned to their hotel room, planning to return home the next day.

The entire way, Demyx stayed close to Axel and thanked him over and over, purring happily.

And Axel continued to welcome and give the younger as much affection as he could.

They spent the night in their hotel room, rather comfortable as they slept nicely.

And then returned home the following day, and after that day, the two males made it a tradition to go back and swim with the dolphins at least once every two or so months, and when they eventually got their own family, they brought their kids to the aquarium just like their own fathers had for themselves and then brought them to SeaWorld to swim with the dolphins, making sure their kids got to have the wonderful memories too.

~o~


	20. Nail File

_**Nail File**_

_**Characters © Respected Owners**_

~o~

The day officially sucked for Reno.

Why? Because he'd been ambushed on what was supposed to be an easy mission and got captured, and was now chained to a cold, damp wall.

As one would expect, they stripped him of any object he could use as a weapon, that mean his knives were gone, his gun, and his EMR. Even worse was that his arms were chained to the wall by his wrists, holding his hands just above his head.

Just high enough to cause discomfort and slight pain. Bastards.

What Reno hated most about the hostage situation was that if he didn't' get outta there real quick like, Rude was gonna worry.

And Rude's not fun to deal with when he's worried about his partner, or so the redhead had been told.

Reno sighed and glanced around, blinking as he caught a glimpse of an odd sight for his location.

A rusty nail file lay only a few feet away. Reno's eyes widened and the brightened, a smirk on his face as he stretched his leg out, managing to get the rusty piece of metal under his boot and dragged it over to him.

Now came the hard part, actually getting the metal to his hand.

He tried to lean down and get it with his teeth but failed with the restraints on his wrists, otherwise he would have been able to. So instead he lifted his leg and managed to untie the shoelaces with his teeth, then kicked the boot off with his other boot then slipped off his sock.

With the tip of his tongue sticking out of his mouth in concentration, Reno tried to get the nail file between his toes so he could get it to his hand.

After five or so minutes of fiddling he grinned in victory and got the object securely between his toes, then proceeded to waste no time in getting the metal between his teeth then up to his hand. From there it was rather simple to get out of the lock on his wrist.

His arm fell back to his side for a few moments as he enjoyed the feeling of being able to relax the muscles before freeing his other hand. He rested up for a minute then went about getting his shoe back on. He then looked at the nail file and decided to bring it along, might as well show it off to Rude when he got back.

After that was done, he stood and wind-milled his arms a few times to get feeling back into them. He then turned to the wooden door and stepped over to it, lifting a leg then kicking against the door, causing it to be kicked in.

The guard that had been outside was so startled when it happened, couldn't do anything when Reno's palm came up and jabbed him under the jaw, causing the man to lose consciousness.

With a grin, Reno bent and retrieved the small machine gun the man had, and headed toward what he thought was the general direction of the exit. If he was met by any guard or security, he simply gunned them down, not in the mood to deal with them; a blast to the kneecap, hip, or an area to cause them enough pain to not get in his way any longer.

By the time he got out, he only had a black eye and a cut on his cheek under said eye, and those he got before he was even taken to the god-awful place.

And on his way to the closest city, he tossed the gun away and continued on. When he got into town he called Tseng and got the elder Turk to get him a ride back to Midgar.

When he got back home, Rude had been laying down on the couch and he all but glomped the elder, snuggling against him. Rude had started in surprise then smiled once he realized who it was, only to frown at the redhead's face, having caught the injuries when Reno lifted his head to look at him.

"Ah, don't worry about it, mission just had a little problem" He said when Rude touched the eye gently. Then Reno proceeded to tell Rude about the day, all the while smiling because he was back home.

Overall, due to the nail file, his day didn't suck so badly anymore.

~o~


	21. Thunderstorms

_**Thunderstorms**_

_**Characters © Respected Owners**_

~o~

_**FLASH!!**_

_**CRASH!!**_

Huddled under two blankets and two pillows laid a small six year old boy, whimpering and trembling in fear as the thunderstorm raged on outside his home while he tried to resist the tears that had gathered. He was a big boy. Big boys didn't cry.

_**FLASH!!**_

_**CRASH!!**_

A slightly older boy, nine, woke with a start, the second clap of thunder waking him from his sleep. That's what he told everyone if they asked, what really woke Rude was his best friend's frightened cry of terror.

"A-Ah!!"

"Reno?! Ren, you okay?" Rude asked frantically, throwing the blankets away and sitting up, only to crawl from his spot on the top bunk in his room, then crawled over to the trembling lump under the blankets.

"Ren? Ren, it's me, Ru. Reno? Don't worry, I'm here" Rude said while figuring out where the end of the blankets were before crawling under them and huddling up to his terrified best friend.

"R-R-Ru… Ah!" Reno whimpered, flinching and clinging to Rude when another clap of thunder reverberated.

"Shh… Big bad Rude won't let anything hurt you! Don't be afraid, I'm right here now" Rude cooed softly, rubbing his face into Reno's hair as his arms returned the cling Reno was doing. Reno then clung even tighter and hid his face in Rude's chest, tangling their legs together as he got as close to the older boy as he could.

"N-N-Nn…. R-Ruuu…. I'm scared..." Reno whimpered more, Rude blinked slightly then snuggled closer, ruffling the younger's hair in a desperate attempt to soothe the other, wanting him to feel safe and secure.

"Shhh… I'm here, you don't need ta be scared anymore, Ren, just take a couple deep breaths and relax as much as you can, okay?" Rude instructed, trying to think of anyway to get Reno to calm back down. He hadn't known the younger was so frightened of thunderstorms. Else he wouldn't have slept up on the top bunk.

Reno sniffled slightly and nodded, a couple of the straggling tears fell and Rude was quick to wipe them away when he felt them, tucking Reno under his chin protectively.

Reno's little body trembled as he tried to calm himself down, fingers fisted Rude's shirt, trying to take the deep breaths that Rude had told him to try. It took quite a while, but he slowly started to calm back down, his trembling stopping to only an occasional shiver, his tears dried up and he didn't pant so badly anymore.

Rude had continued to run his hand through Reno's hair and had the other simply wound around his best friend, and he continued to whisper soothing, calming things to Reno.

He didn't let up even when he was absolutely sure that Reno had fallen back asleep, arms and hands no longer clinging as he slept, just holding onto Rude. Rude didn't let himself fall back asleep for a long time after Reno had fallen asleep, wanting to make sure his best friend wouldn't wake back up and find him asleep.

"Night, Ren. See? Big, bad Rude didn't let anything happen…"

~o~


	22. Gummi Bears

_**Gummi Bears**_

_**Characters © Respected owners**_

~o~

"You… Are really, _really_ immature sometimes, Ren." Rude observed.

"… And your point is?" Reno replied, glancing at the other with a raised brow.

"…"

"Exactly, you would have left a long time ago if it bothered you" Reno stated with a small grin.

"That is true… Damnit, must you be right all the time?" Rude then grunted, settling his chin on Reno's shoulder, watching what Reno was doing to the poor, defenseless edible bears.

"Having fun?" Rude asked, chuckling slightly at what the redhead was doing.

"Yep. It's mind-numbingly fun" Reno chirped his reply, leaning to the side and turning his head to kiss Rude's cheek briefly before turning back to what he was doing.

A few minutes passed before Rude made a small noise at what Reno had created.

"Is… That even possible…?" He asked, eyeing the small structure in which the gummi bears had been placed.

"No idea, yo." Was all he got before Reno moved onto making a new small structure of the gummi bears.

Another minut passed before Rude whistled and raised a brow.

"Orgy much?"

"Oh, you know it"

Reno had just constructed yet another sexual position with the gummi bears, this time including four bears. A green, red, yellow and clear one.

The clear one seemed to be receiving a blowjob by the green bear, who was getting it doggy style by the yellow bear while the red bear stood behind the yellow to indicated it was giving it to the yellow one from behind.

"How the hell did I fall in love with an immature redhead like you?" Rude chuckled, shaking his head as he returned his chin to Reno's shoulder, nuzzling his cheek against the younger's neck a bit.

"I have no idea. S'not like I made you fall in love with me, but I'm sure glad you did" Reno replied, turning to nuzzle the other Turk lovingly before turning back to the gummi bears and picking the up, tossing a couple into his mouth before offering one to Rude.

"Gummi?"

"Hm, sure, thanks" Rude said, taking the small bear and popping it into his mouth before winding his arms around Reno with a small grin on his face.

"And for the record, I'm glad you fell in love with me too."

~o~


	23. Blood

_**Blood**_

_**Characters © Respected Owners**_

~o~

So… Much…. Too much…. Can't take it…

Consciousness… Slipping…

_Heh… sorry, Ru… I fucked up…_

Black

~o~

Rude fidgeted slightly, feeling at unease. He was beginning to regret letting Reno go off on his own on the mission, simply for the fact that the redhead hadn't been on even five missions yet.

His stomach quivered and fluttered and his heart beat faster then normal, unable to calm himself, especially when Reno didn't answer the radio messages he sent to him. He now stood and started back to where they had split up, needing to calm himself down by seeing the redhead in his own eyes.

~o~

Black, dark, nothing.

Whatever you wanted to call it, he didn't feel anything either, it was all numb. No feeling whatsoever.

~o~

Rude kept searching, growing more and more panicked as he looked, not finding a trace of the younger Turk.

"Damnit!" He snapped at nothing, feeling frustrated that he had been stupid enough to let Reno go alone.

And so he searched on.

~o~

Still just floating numbness. There was nothing around him aside from total darkness.

~o~

Rude felt his heart either stop or skip a few beats at the sight before him, having turned a corner and happening upon… it. He could sense that's the scene he'd walk on, but he didn't expect Reno to be among the still bodies and blood.

Blood. So much of it. It coated the walls, soaked into the floor, some even on the ceiling. You could easily smell it and almost taste the heavy coppery scent that was thick in the air.

There were three bodies of the enemy and Reno, Rude wouldn't believe he was dead. Not yet. So he didn't think of him as a body. All of the enemies were beaten and rather bloody looking, crumpled on the floor, one leaning against the wall, a bullet hole by his eye.

Reno was face down in a puddle of what seemed to be his own blood, head turned to the side. In his hand was his trusty EMR and a colt pistol laid a few inches from his other hand.

Rude hurried over to Reno, kneeling down beside his partner and gently tapping an undamaged shoulder, "Ren? Reno? Reeen? It's me, Rude, Reno?" He then carefully turned him over onto his back, going slow and gentle as he didn't know if Reno had any broken bones.

Rude gasped at the younger Turk's injuries, hands fleeting over the holes in his chest and he wasn't so sure that Reno wasn't dead anymore. But then he brushed his hand against one hole, only to feel the hard padded vest of the younger's bulletproof vest, giving a sigh of relief as he moved onto surveying the younger Turk's other injuries.

His relief over Reno having no holes in his chest was shortly lived as he found one in his thigh, right, this one bleeding and obviously not having been protected by anything remotely bulletproof. He then quickened his once thorough search, the hole giving him even more incentive to get Reno the hell out of there. He eased his hands down Reno's sides, fingers feeling for cracks, he thought he found one but wasn't sure, deciding to be very cautious of it regardless. Not wanting to injure his partner anymore then he already was. Overall, Reno had many more smaller injuries, and Rude had reached a hand up and radio'd Tseng to get his ass over here to get the two partnered Turks the fuck out of there.

~o~

There was an intense, horrid throbbing around and behind Reno's left eye, and he squeezed his eyes more tightly shut with a pained groan, almost a whimper.

"Ren?!"

… _Who…? Oh. Rude._ Reno could tell after a moment, the voice being distorted and not very clear at all, but he recognized the hands wrapping around his smaller hand, knowing them the instant he noticed the touch.

"Nn… R-R… R-Ru…" Reno groaned again, squinting his non throbbing eye open only to nearly hiss at the sudden stark whiteness that had filled his line of vision, not ready for the bright, fluorescent lights and the bone, completely white walls; which was quite the change from all the blood that he'd seen before passing out.

"Sh, it's okay, Ren, you're in the hospital… You weren't so good when I found you… Ren, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let you go off on your own, you wouldn't have been hurt if I hadn't…" Rude rambled slightly,

Reno gave a weak smile and shook his head just a bit. "Don't be, it was my fault... How long was…?" Reno then asked, wondering how long it had been since he'd last been awake.

"Two days, including today, it's four in the afternoon, and… I can't help but feel bad, you're still a Young Turk, you shouldn't've gone off like that, and it's my fault for letting you stray when you weren't ready." Rude insisted before sighing and falling quiet, Reno following in suit as he returned the grip on Rude's hand.

They were quiet for a while, Reno noticed the throbbing was going down and was highly thankful for that, he didn't want to be in any more pain, but he had something eating at him, even though Rude had already reassured him.

Said bald Turk seemed to notice this and gave Reno's hand a squeeze, looking over to the younger Turk in curiosity.

"What's wrong, Ren?" He asked softly, not liking the look Reno had on his face at that moment.

"Nn…. I'm just…. I'm sorry, yo… I fucked up… The m-mission…"

Rude frowned and got up and leaned over the redhead, giving his temple a kiss gently, thumb rubbing the back of Reno's hand soothingly.

"Shh, hush you, it's not important. It's only important that you're alive. Fuck the mission; I don't care about it, only you. So be happy; no pouting, you're only allowed to be happy, goddamnit" Rude said, teasing just a bit to see if he could get the younger to smile or even laugh.

Reno couldn't help the grin that split his face in nearly two, the words both reassuring him in just the right way, and letting him laugh a little.

"Okay, I'm happy, I'm alive, but I'd be happier if I got a kiss and some pain killers, my head is killing me and my leg aches" Reno replied, tiling his head back in anticipation to the kiss he had just shamelessly asked for, knowing he'd be rewarded with what he wanted.

Rude gave him that kiss and then stood straight to fetch a nurse, wanting to keep Reno out of pain. And as he went, he made his own personal vow; knowing he'd break it at least once but it would give him even more motivation, not that he needed any.

_Never again will he bleed. His blood will not be shed again if I can help it._

~o~


	24. Jester

_**Jester**_

_**Characters © Respected Owners**_

~o~

"C'mon, Hayner! Roxas! We're gonna be late!!" Pence had shouted up the stairs to where the two blond boys were currently getting ready. Hayner was dressing in his room and Roxas was applying make up to add the finishing touches to his costume.

The three boys were currently on their way to go to a Halloween party that Axel's brother threw annually since he'd moved to Twilight Town a few years back. First they had to pick up the girls though, Olette and Namine.

Usually everyone went, it was always a great time and they'd yet to have problems, especially since the two who threw the party were Turks, and you don't disrespect a Turk. Especially this pair; Rude and Reno, for as of a few years ago, Reno was the leader of the group.

But no one was stupid enough to do that, not even Seifer and his gang.

Hayner was the first down the steps, jingling and ringing as he did, for he wore a multi colored outfit adorning in bells. He even had the accurate Jester's hat. He'd even let Roxas, after almost an hour of nagging mind you, to let him paint a black vertical line on each eye. Just to add a little bit to his costume.

After another five minutes, Roxas emerged bloody and battered, having chosen to be a zombie, while Pence was a mummy.

"Alright, we ready? Olette and Namine are waiting." Pence asked and received two nods.

"Yep, let's go!" Hayner said eagerly, exiting the house and heading for the girls' house that was just a few houses down.

After gathering the girls, the five friends then started for Rude and Reno's house, chatting along the way.

Reno answered the door when they got there, usually doing the task unless he was busy, then Axel or Rude would, and he grinned at them, dressed up as a pirate, hat and all, and ushered them inside. He did pull Roxas out of the group and started a conversation with him, offering to help him find Axel.

The night was going well until someone was either shoved or had tripped but nonetheless had caused Hayner to stumble noisily.

And with Hayner being Hayner, he snapped at whoever it had been without stopping to check who'd it'd been.

"Hey! Watch it, man!"

"My, my, what's got your panties in a bunch, Lamer?" Seifer teased, having seen who Rai had pushed him into.

"Shut up, Seifer! Don't ram into me like that!" Hayner snapped again, not one to ever have patience for the elder blond.

If Hayner had taken five minutes to really look at Seifer, he'd have realized why he was Seifer's favorite to pick on, and then he wouldn't have to be so defensive all the time, being scared Seifer'd figure out something that Hayner really didn't want him to. And Seifer had his own things to hide, not wanting to be found out, but at the same time, dropped hints for Hayner to maybe pick up on. But alas he didn't, had yet to see what he seemed to be blind to.

Tonight seemed to be the same as any other night, Hayner still blind like always and didn't see the true intent, the true meanings behind Seifer's jeers and taunts.

Seifer just rolled his eyes, deciding he was too fed up for tonight to tease Hayner and get only anger in return.

"Yea, Sorry, whatever" Seifer said just loud enough fro Hayner to hear before he shoved his hands into the pockets of his black pants then turned on his heel, black cape swishing behind him.

Hayner was basically stunned still for a moment, not having expected that to ever come out of the elder blond's mouth when they were on their way to arguing, by the time he'd come up with what he'd say, Seifer was long gone.

Hayner frowned and pushed it away for the most part, going back to having fun with his friends, even goofing off with Reno once or twice, the much older redhead having intimidated him slightly, though not as much as the redhead's partner, Rude.

But he couldn't help but dwell on the elder blond's words, his enemy's, and actions. Usually Seifer, no Seifer _never_ missed a beat when it came to teasing the younger blond.

And whenever Hayner tried to find Seifer, he always seemed to be just gone. Hayner wouldn't let himself believe that Seifer had gone home; Seifer never went home until he was forced out of the house. For reasons he didn't know.

Eventually thought, the bell clad teen had managed to find Seifer on his own in one of the many hallways Rude and Reno had in the house, the hood to his cape up and cover most of his hair but the front part suck out unevenly. It was then that Hayner noticed that the elder's signature beanie was gone, revealing just how far the scar on Seifer's face went onto his forehead.

After a minute of silence, Seifer glanced over to the younger and rolled his blue eyes, arms already crossed over his chest.

"What do you want, Lamer?" He asked in a blunt, bored tone.

Hayner blinked then frowned at his enemy. "Why have you been acting weird? Before you barely teased me when before you'd taunt me mercilessly, I don't get why you're suddenly treating me differently…" Hayner sort of rambled, letting out his confusion.

"Because I'm sick and tired of it, you're completely oblivious. A rock is more observant." Seifer said as he stepped forward stopping when he was just a few feet in front of Hayner.

"Oblivious? How the hell am I oblivious?" Hayner snapped slightly, frustration over his confusion showing itself.

Seifer growled and suddenly spun Hayner around and pinned him to the wall, hands on either side of the younger's head, the bells on Hayner's costume tingling and jingling slightly.

The action surprised Hayner, but it wasn't the first time Seifer had pinned him to a wall or lockers, with his hands where they were now. So it wasn't like it bothered him that much, though he seemed so much more aware of how close they were positioned then before.

"You're very oblivious! I've been dropping hints everywhere! Yet you don't pick them up!" Seifer ranted leaning in close to the younger's face with an angered look on his face.

Okay, whoa, Seifer had never gotten his face so close to Hayner's before and the sudden closeness caused his heart to beat just a bit faster and his hands formed fists against the wall.

"What are you talking about? Get to the point, Seifer" Hayner said, looking down at the floor.

Wow another shock, Seifer never touched Hayner unless it was to cause pain and right now, it certainly wasn't painful at all, but the touch was feather soft.

"Why I teas you, and taunt you and beat on you all the time, the real reason why." Seifer replied words soft but with a harsh, bitter edge to them at the same time, almost as if Seifer was spitting them out, fingers' curling around the younger's chin.

"Why… Why do you? I just always thought you hated me…" Hayner replied, feeling slightly uneasy but didn't pull his chin away.

"Because I don't hate you; quite the opposite it seems, actually…" Seifer answered truthfully, voice keeping its bitter tone and edge to it.

Hayner could only stare at the other, eyes wide with his mouth parted slightly.

"Are you getting at what I think you are…? Do… Do you…. _Like_ me, Seifer…?" Hayner asked cautiously, blinking when the other's hand tightening on his jaw.

Seifer answered with a small nod; hand still on the wall forming a fist as Hayner's hands relaxed, unclenching.

"When?" He asked simply "How?"

"I don't know! Just…. One day I couldn't help but find the way you throw a fit cute… Y'know, when you get angry, you get this little wrinkle over your nose and it takes a lot of will power to not smile and not stare. And when you touch me at all, it gets harder to resist pinning you to a wall or something…" Seifer rambled, in frustration. "I just-Just…. This one day…. I just thought that you were really sexy when you're mad." Seifer added, letting go of Hayner's chin to lean back and rub a hand over his head, knocking the hood off his head as he disheveled his shorter, lighter blond hair even more.

Hayner hadn't realized that, but he'd subconsciously brought his bottom lip between his teeth, nibbling on it as he processed what Seifer had told him. And then he realized he didn't like it when Seifer backed up a few steps, them now not-so-close.

Hayner had a choice to make, and he had to make it _now._ Not in three days, now. He had one chance at this.

Suddenly, as if on instinct alone, Hayner seized the front of Seifer's black shirt, this one covering the elder blond's stomach for a change, and jerked him back towards himself and down a bit before releasing the cloth and throwing his arms around Seifer's neck and standing on his toes to be able to reach his lips, pressing his mouth against them in a kiss.

Seifer blinked in shock for a few moments, he'd never expected Hayner to do this, initiate a kiss between the two of them but he decided to disregard that as he got his senses back, pressing back insistently as he stepped forward, not stopping until Hayner's back was against the wall this time, only in a much less hostile then the first time Hayner was pinned to the wall. One of Seifer's arms wound its way around the younger's waist, his free forearm resting against the wall slightly above Hayner's head.

They didn't part for a long time, too busy getting to know each other much better then they had previously known, especially each other's mouths, tongues becoming acquainted with one another and the space of the other's mouth.

They pulled apart when Hayner's hat fell noisily to the floor, bells jingling from the impact.

"Heh, this mean you don't hate me either?" Seifer asked, a bit cockier now that he had his confidence back.

"I guess not, I don't think I did. Not for more then a day or something." Hayner replied, having a mini-realization on this fact.

"Hmmm…."Seifer hummed while he eyed the hat, releasing Hayner for a moment to snatch the piece of cloth and bells off the ground. He then placed the hat back on Hayner's head after dusting it off a bit.

"This means you're my personal Jester? Always keeping me entertained?" He asked with a smirk,

Hayner sighed with a roll of his eyes, smiling slightly.

"How about boyfriend and we work our way up from there?"

"… Hm, alright, but I still get to call you Lamer, Lamer"

~o~


	25. Movies

_**Movies**_

_**Characters © Respected Owners**_

~o~

"Can I? Please?" Reno asked eyes wide and pleading as he looked to his parents for permission.

His biological father hummed then looked to the left where Reno's other father stood.

"I don't see why not, Rude's responsible enough to handle you enough for a night or two, Yes, you may" Demyx said for both him and Axel, smiling and patting Reno on the head.

Reno grinned at the news and nodded, throwing his arms around both of his dads and hugging them quickly.

"Thank you! Love you guys!" He said, then was off to get his duffel bag packed and called his forever best friend.

"Ru! They let me! I'm all packed tooo~!" Reno said spastically, very happy for the opportunity to finally get to sleep over at Rude's new apartment, although he'd been there before, he still was excited. He'd been best friends with the elder male for fourteen years now, ever since he was only one.

"Alright, I'll be around in ten to get you then. Keep an eye out" Rude replied with a small chuckle, liking how enthusiastic Reno was being about the whole thing.

In the few promised minutes, Rude's SUV pulled into the drive way; he shut it off and stepped out of the vehicle, dressed in a more casual set of clothes then what he'd been wearing lately. He stepped up to the door and gave a slight knock before pushing the door open.

Axel had noticed the knock and greeted Rude happily, turning for a moment to yell up the stairs at Reno that Rude was there then turned back and made some small talk with the now slightly taller man. Rude might have been the quiet talk, really only talking to Reno, but Axel had helped raise him and felt at ease and talked to Axel as he would Reno to a degree. Axel asked what Rude had been up to, and the bald man informed that he'd just recently been accepted into the small group of Turks.

Reno was down the stairs in a matter of minutes, having had to tie back his pony tail and all but leapt at his best friend, trusting Rude to catch him, which he did.

Rude chuckled and returned the hug before lightly tugging on the longer ponytail, now reaching Reno's shoulder blades, despite the fact that part of it had gotten chopped off by a classmate which had earned Reno a week suspension from school for getting back at said classmate.

"Rude! I got all my stuff. I'll see you in the car! Bye, Dad! Love you, yo!" Reno then said, hoisting the red duffel bag up and heading out the door to Rude's SUV. Rude said a few parting words before following after the younger male.

The redhead had settled nicely in the front passenger seat, having tossed his bag in the back seat then proceeded to clamber into the seat he was now in. All before Rude got to the SUV.

"What's got you so spazzy, hm?" Rude asked after starting the vehicle up and backed out onto the road, then heading back towards his own apartment. "It's not like you've never been there before, Reno"

"I know, but it's the first time I get to stay the night!" Reno then answered, grinning even more.

"Hm alright, still though. That great for you?" Rude asked, glancing over to Reno before looking back towards the road.

"Yes! You're my best friend, yo! And I haven't gotten to see you in a while, and I haven't gotten to stay the night since you moved into your new place." Reno pointed out, sending his bright grin Rude's way.

Rude hummed and nodded, "Hm, true, I can see what you mean" He then agreed.

"See? Yo, what've you got planned anyway?" Reno asked, wondering what their activities would be for the night, video games, movies, just hanging out.

"I got some of the new movies from the video store, y'know, and the ones you wanted to watch. " Rude glanced over just in time to see Reno's face light up, grinning widely with bright eyes.

"Really, yo?" Reno asked with his wide eyes and grin.

"Yea, I got those three that just came out that you wanted to see but couldn't' go" Rude clarified, smiling as he saw how happy Reno was after the news.

"Yes! Thank you, Ru! Movie night tooonight!" Reno cheered, fists pumped into the air as he grinned and laughed.

"You're welcome, Ren. I knew you'd like the idea"

"Like it? I LOVE IT!"

~o~

After getting aback to Rude's apartment, Reno had gotten settled in and then they started the movie marathon in the living room.

Reno, being the affectionate-no-personal-space-redhead, had laid his head in Rude's lap, a hand resting behind his head on Rude's thigh as they watched the movies.

Rude didn't mind having the redhead do things like this, having gotten used to his best friend's no personal space.

Reno stayed alert and attentive throughout all the movies, but started to get tired at the end of the third, all three having been long movies, and yawned slightly, shaking his head and shifting slightly before settling down again. Rude chuckled to himself and lifted a hand to run through Reno's hair, simply wanting to; already knowing what Reno'd do.

The younger purred softly and let his eyes fall shut, as he enjoyed the rubs, falling asleep during the relaxing process.

Rude didn't move though until he was sure that Reno was fast and deep asleep, not wanting to wake his best friend up when he'd just fallen asleep.

After getting up, Rude went to fetch Reno's favorite blanket and pillow from his closet, carrying the items back to the couch and lifting the younger's head slightly to place the pillow under it and then covered him up with the soft blanket, Reno having claimed it a long time ago, causing Rude to keep it for him.

"Night, Ren"

~o~


	26. Sunflower

_**Sunflower**_

_**Characters © Respected Owners**_

~o~

Reno had smiled at the rose that had been laid on his desk, fingers picking up the delicate flower and small note, smiling even more at the words written in a familiar neat handwriting.

He was still standing in front of his desk, staring at the rose with a small smile, looking and reading the note again every once in a while, when Rude re-entered the room and shut the door behind him. The bald Turk stepped over to Reno and wound his arms around his partner's waist, laying his cheek against Reno's head, nuzzling the soft red hair that more fluffed up then spiked up.

"You like?" The older Turk asked softly.

"Mm… I do." Reno answered, turning his head to nuzzle Rude back. "Thank you, Ru"

"No need"

~o~

The next day a large, freshly picked sunflower had been placed upon Rude's desk, and only the two Turks would understand its true meaning, from when they met all those years ago.

Rude may not have been to the type to do that sort of things, but Reno was a slight romantic and had no shame so he decided to return the gift Rude had given him, with his own gift.

As with the rose, a small note was attached to the steam of the sunflower, tied with a small piece of yarn.

On the paper in Reno's neat, but not so neat scrawl of a handwriting was a simple reply.

_If they have, let them._

_I'm having too much fun to care about anyone but you and me 3_

_I love you_

_Love,_

_Your Ren._

~o~


	27. Tea

_**Tea**_

~o~

Life was well for the two now retired Turks, having settled down together in Twilight Town, in their own home close to Axel and Demyx.

They'd retired three short years ago, after Rude's bad knee finally decided to give out just a few months shy of his Fortieth birthday, not being able to hold up to the rigorous missions they had always been assigned to, destined to a life of strictly Office work. Rude had managed to sprain his knee pretty badly early on in his life, in High School on the football team during a game. It'd been manageable before, nothing a long, warm soak in water and a few Tylenols couldn't help. The last mission the two had been on had hurt his knee so badly he had to get his kneecap replaced all together.

Rude wasn't opposed to the office work, or the few small missions he might have been thrown every now and then, but it was a mutual decision that neither wanted to continue working for ShinRa if they couldn't work together as partners. Reno had been worried of Rude getting injured more now, and the younger redhead wasn't too keen to office work, and he also flat out refused to work with anyone but Rude, Tseng having hinted at getting him a new Turkling to train with. Thus the two Turks handed in their resignation papers at the same time, packed up what they had, and returned to Twilight Town to settle down. On a mutual decision they agreed to stay close to Reno's only other family, which now included a brother, brother-in-law, and a young niece and a brand new nephew.

They'd managed to snag Demyx's old house, the place never having been bought after Demyx moved into Axel's house long before. They refurbished and tore down a wall between two rooms, and they redid all the floors, carpet, wood and tile. It took a while, but they slept on the air mattress they'd brought along.

They, being the awesome uncles that they were, had gotten a small room set up for their niece and nephew. It had two small twin sized beds inside, though only little Alyza stayed with them. She had just earned the right to being a whole four years old, while her new baby brother was to turn one in a few months.

Alyza was basically Reno in small female, child form. She had her father and uncle's bright red hair, which was naturally wavy for now, almost in small ringlets. Her eyes were the same color as her uncle Reno's and she even had a small oval-ish birthmark in the corner of her right eye. Her wavy hair came from Axel and Reno's mothers, both having wavy, smooth hair. Whenever Reno would take her out to the park, people would assume she was his, even if Axel was with them, confusing him for the uncle and not her dad. Reno thought she'd grow up to have Axel's face, more so than his own, being able to see his brother in her more then himself. Alyza loved her uncle Reno, always excited when he and Rude would stop by to visit, and though she loved uncle Rude too, Reno seemed to be her favorite.

It was a currently quiet weekend, the two ex-Turks simply lazing about, mostly cuddling, and every once in a while Reno would get up and fetch Rude his cup of tea, a new thing his doctor had him on, four small cups of tea a day, at least, to make him healthier in the long run. They'd decided it was best to start now, since they did have a life and family to worry about now.

Rude hadn't enjoyed the new regiment at first, not being a huge tea drinker, but that was usually when he had to fend for himself and get his tea himself, but somehow when Reno made it, and it tasted a lot better. Rude had even grown to like the tea eventually, something that made Reno happy, glad he wouldn't have to suffer with the order from his doctor.

The tea, doctor's order, was just a new routine in their life and it didn't upset the balance they'd created. Reno had even started to have a cup with Rude whenever the bald ex-Turk would have one, showing his support and care for Rude with each cup.

Even though they shared everything really, they enjoyed the new, small little thing they could look forward to each day, sitting down and relaxing over a couple warm cups of tea.

~o~


	28. Sushi

_**Sushi**_

~o~

"Seriously, Zack, back!" Cloud said with a frown and glare, looking over to the man trying to give him a hug and kiss.

"Whaaat? Zack exasperated, frowning in confusion, backing up like asked.

"Your breath! You've been eating sushi and you know how allergic I am to shrimp! I'd rather like to breathe after a kiss, thanks" Cloud said with his frown, arms crossed over his chest.

Zack stared then sighed and hung his head, "Alright, alright! I'll be right back" He said then turned and walked out of the room, heading towards the bathroom of their shared apartment he returned with minty breath without a trace of the shrimp left in his mouth.

He walked up to cloud and wrapped his arms around him in a hug "Sorry, Chokie, I sometimes forget how allergic you are" He said, apologizing into the blond's hair.

Cloud sighed and retuned the hug, tucking his head under Zack's chin. "It's okay, I shouldn't've snapped. I know you like sushi and I'm not asking you to not eat it, I wouldn't do that. Just try to remember okay, I'd rather not spend a day in the hospital" Cloud said into Zack's neck and shoulder.

"Yea, I'd rather you not as well, Chokie, mmm... Sorry about that" Zack replied, nuzzling his face a bit more into Cloud's hair.

"And what have I said about calling me that, puppy?" Cloud teased, secretly enjoying the cute nickname.

"You love it. Don't deny" Zack replied with a chuckle, making Cloud's secret not-so-secret anymore.

"Oh hush you" Cloud said with a small laugh, pushing against Zack's chest a bit, only to have the elder man's strong arms tighten around him, holding him close against his chest, fully intent on not letting the blond go.

If not for a little while.

~o~


End file.
